India recorded 93,249 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, with which its overall caseload soared to 1,24,85,509. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)Coronavirus India Live Updates: The daily coronavirus case count in India crossed one lakh for the first time. Sunday’s tally beat the previous high of 97,894, detected on September 16 last year.
The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced new restrictions, including a night curfew from 8 pm to 7 am in the state and a weekend lockdown, amid an unprecedented surge in Covid cases, NCP minister Nawab Malik said. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had earlier called a cabinet meeting to discuss the coronavirus situation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a review meeting with high-level officials to review the recent rise in coronavirus cases as well as the nationwide vaccination drive on Sunday, asked central teams to visit Maharashtra and review the reasons for such a spike.
The Madhya Pradesh government has said that it will restrict the movement of people from neighbouring Chhattisgarh to curb the spread of Covid-19 and a lockdown will be enforced in isolated areas whenever needed. Talking to reporters, Chouhan said they have already sealed Madhya Pradesh’s areas bordering Maharashtra. “There will now be restrictions on movement from Chhattisgarh. Those who need to come for necessary and unavoidable work will be allowed on humanitarian grounds and transportation of goods will continue,” he said, citing the spread of Covid-19 in the neighbouring states.
India recorded 93,249 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, with which its overall caseload soared to 1,24,85,509. Meanwhile, with 513 new deaths, the death toll surged to 1,64,623.
Swab testing fro Covid-19 by health workers at Juhu beach in Mumbai. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The medical officer of Khodapipar Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Rajkot district, a laboratory technician and a medical officer of a Dhanvantari Rath functioning under that PHC were dismissed from service Sunday over allegations of fudging in Covid-19 tests.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered the Rajkot district collector and district development officer to conduct an enquiry into the matter and take action against those responsible after a news report in a Gujarati newspaper Sunday alleged the staff of Khodapipar PHC in Padadhari taluka of Rajkot district had sent 1,300 samples for RT-PCR tests over the past few months without having actually collected any sample. Read More
State Forest Minister Ganapat Vasava and Labour and Employment Minister Dilipkumar Thakor tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday even as surge in Covid-19 cases continued unabated.
Gujarat reported 2,875 fresh cases on Sunday, the state’s highest single-day addition after a record 2,815-case spike Saturday. While the total virus count is above 3.17 lakh, currently there are 15,135 active cases in the state among which 163 patients are on ventilator. The two ministers announced they had tested positive for the infection on Twitter. While Thakor has been put on home quarantine, Vasava has been admitted to a hospital. Read More
The Covid-19 situation in Nagpur district appears to be worsening with the district recording 62 deaths and 4,110 new patients on Sunday. The city’s highest death tally (64) was in September last year during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first wave, most of the deaths occurred in the municipal area with rural parts relatively unaffected. But this time, deaths have been occurring equally in rural parts of the district. On Sunday, 29 deaths each were reported from rural and municipal areas. Four deaths were of patients from outside the district. Read More
Punjab recorded 51 Covid deaths and added 3,019 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, as per the state bulletin, Sunday.
With 51 fresh deaths, the toll in Punjab due to Covid reached 7,083.
For the third time in 10 days, the daily case count in Punjab crossed 3,000-mark. Earlier, 3,187 and 3,176 fresh cases were recorded on April 1 and March 26, respectively. Read More
Maharashtra was facing a grave situation with a rapid spread in the double mutated strain, L452R and E484Q, of the novel coronavirus, and the situation needed to watched closely, said Dr Shekhar Mande, Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
“Whether or not it is fuelling the crisis can be better understood as we will be releasing our analysis of data from Maharashtra soon. More institutes will soon be added to the INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics). From today, National Chemical Laboratory will also join in the effort along with NIV (National Institute of Virology) and NCCS (National Centre for Cell Science) for genomic sequencing of samples,” Dr Mande told the media on Sunday. Read More
The daily count of coronavirus cases in India crossed one lakh for the first time on Sunday. The figure beat the previous high of 97,894, detected on September 16 last year.
Punjab recorded 51 Covid deaths and added 3,019 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, as per the state bulletin, Sunday.
With 51 fresh deaths, the toll in Punjab due to Covid reached 7,083.
For the third time in 10 days, the daily case count in Punjab crossed 3,000-mark. Earlier, 3,187 and 3,176 fresh cases were recorded on April 1 and March 26, respectively. Read More
Amid a surge in Covid cases, RT-PCR test has been made mandatory for people entering the state and those traveling outside. Classes 1 to 9 will remain suspended. DMs can impose night curfews but they will be required to seek government's permission for: Rajasthan government
Pune reported a record 12,494 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the district's tally to 5,74,829, the third consecutive day when new case addition peaks were touched, an official said on Sunday. On Saturday, the tally had increased by 10,827, while the addition was 9,086 on Friday, he pointed out. A total of 64 deaths on Sunday took the toll to 10,227, while 3,762 people were discharged, he added. (PTI)
Delhi reports 4,033 new cases, 21 deaths and 2,677 recoveries, in the last 24 hours. It currently has 13,982 active cases. (ANI)
Maharashtra reports 57,074 new Covid-19 cases, 27,508 recoveries, and 222 deaths in the last 24 hours. (ANI)
Mumbai recorded its highest single-day spike of 11,163 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, which pushed the city's caseload to 4,52,445, the civic body said.
With the death of 25 patients, the fatality count of the metropolis reached 11,776, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.
A total of 5,263 patients were discharged from hospitals, which took the recovery count to 3,71,628. (PTI)
Six students of Government Medical College (GMC) here tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, a spokesperson said.
The students, including five girls staying in hostels, tested positive for the infection during a special rapid antigen test (RAT) drive here, he said.
He said GMC, Jammu, conducted the tests for staff and students in view of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the Union Territory. (PTI)
Welcoming the decision to shut down schools in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on Sunday called for a uniform approach to fight the second wave of the virus in the union territory.
Abdullah, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state, said while shutting schools in Jammu and Kashmir was the right thing to do, letting crowds assemble at Tulip Garden was too stark a contrast to be ignored.
He was referring to a six-day festival at the garden which began on Saturday. (PTI)
BJP supports government’s decision to impose weekend lockdowns, says Devendra Fadnavis. “People should abide by restrictions and follow COVID protocols. To ensure maximum vaccination, BJP workers would help people register and reach vaccination centres,” he adds. (ANI)
Gyms allowed to operate with 50% capacity and Covid-appropriate behaviour in Karnataka.
In view of increasing Covid cases, Haryana government has imposed restrictions on gatherings. In closed spaces, 50% of hall capacity will be allowed with an upper limit of 200 persons. In open spaces, gatherings of 500 people will be allowed. For funerals, only 50 people will be allowed. (ANI)
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has said all essential services will continue unaffected. Gardens, beaches and public places will be shut from 8 pm till 7 am. Shops, markets and malls will only operate for essentials services. This will be implemented till April 30.
There will be no shutdown of flights, trains, buses and auto-rickshaws but they need to function with less occupancy. They will be fined 500 in case of violations.
People employed at private offices have to work from home completely. Government offices, except public health department, medical education department, and disaster department, will work with 50 per cent capacity.
Gymnasiums will be shut and indoor sports stopped. Theatre and amusement parks have been asked to stop operations. Religious places, restaurants and bars will be shut down but takeaway and delivery options will be open.
Housing societies with five or more Covid cases will be declared containment zones. Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed the COVID-19 situation and vaccination exercise in the country amid an "alarming rate of growth" in infections and deaths, with 10 states contributing to more than 91 percent of them.
Modi said the five-fold strategy of testing, tracing, treatment, COVID-appropriate behaviour and vaccination if implemented with utmost seriousness and commitment would be effective in curbing the pandemic's spread, according to an official statement.
The reasons for the sharp rise in cases could be mainly attributed to the severe decline in compliance of COVID-appropriate behaviour, especially in the use of masks and social distancing, pandemic fatigue and lack of effective implementation of containment measures at the field level, it said.
"A detailed presentation was made which highlighted that there is an alarming rate of growth of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country with 10 states contributing to more than 91 percent of cases and deaths due to COVID," it said.
It was noted in the meeting that vaccine manufacturers are ramping up their production capacity and are also in discussion with other domestic and offshore companies to augment the same. (PTI)
The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced new restrictions, including a night curfew in the state from 8 pm to 7 am and a weekend lockdown, amid an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases, NCP minister Nawab Malik said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a review meeting on Sunday, has also asked central teams to visit Maharashtra and review the reasons for such a spike.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had called for a Cabinet meeting to discuss the coronavirus situation. Thackeray had already warned of strict restrictions if cases continued to rise in Maharashtra. Read more